Surface coating and preserving composition



United States Patent 3,297,456 SURFACE COATING AND PRESERVINGCOMPOSITION Owen W. Newell, 102 W. Bobe St., Pensacola, Fla. 32501 NoDrawing. Filed May 13, 1966, Ser. No. 549,827 3 Claims. (Cl. 106-3) Thisis a continuation-in-part of application Serial No. 267,886, filed March21, 1963, now abandoned.

This invention relates generally to cleaning and polishing compositionsand more particularly to a composition adapted to clean and polish waxedfloors. More specifically, the the present invention relates to awaterlesswaxless floor cleaning, polishing and protecting composition.

Numerous cleaning compositions have been proposed heretofore for thecleansing and polishing of floor surfaces without the necessity ofutilizing substantial quantities of water, inasmuch as certain types offlooring materials, i.e., wood, asphalt, vinyl asphalt, etc., and theadhesives utilized to secure the latter are frequently adverselyaffected by water. Furthermore, most floor maintenance polishing andcleaning compositions proposed heretofore tend to remove substantiallyall of the previously applied protective coating, such as wax, forexample, which may be present on the floor surface being treated. Itwill be readily apparent that the complete removal of such a protectivecoating is somewhat less than desirable inasmuch as most flooringmaterials are characterized by a surface which is micro-porous and thusthe complete removal of a protective film often times give rise toproblems attendant to the resealing of such pores so as to preclude theembedding of soil therein.

A need therefore exists for a cleaning and polishing composition whichrequires the utilization of a relatively minor amount of water andfurthermore achieves the desired results without completely strippingthe existing protective coating to expose the micro-porous surface ofthe flooring.

It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide arelatively waterless cleaning and polishing composition which is adaptedfor the cleansing and polishing of previously waxed floors and the like.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a waxless cleaningand polishing composition which is adapted to facilitate removal of thesoil present on the surface of a waxed floor without completelystripping the protective wax coating so as to insure that themicroporous surface of the flooring is not exposed to the accumulationof soil in the interstices thereof.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a waxless floorcleaning and polishing composition comprising a particular proportion ofan aqueous solution of lactic acid, methanol, hydrogen peroxide andammonia which facilitates the maintenance of heavily traveled flooringsurfaces over extended periods of time without necessitating frequentwaxing thereof.

Briefly, the present invention provides a cleaning and polishingcomposition comprising an admixture of particular proportions of lacticacid, methanol, hydrogen peroxide and ammonia, preferably aqueoussolutions thereof, preferably packaged in a pressurized aerosol typedispenser or spray pump equipped container so as to facilitateapplication of a small amount of the composition to a flooring surfaceto be treated. The coaction of the several components comprising thecomposition has been found to act upon the wax present on the floor toloosen the decayed, or loosely adhering proportion of the wax, andsurface soil incorporated therewith, so as to greatly facilitate theremoval of this soiled portion of the wax by hand or machine bufiing.Furthermore, it

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has, been found that the coacting components of the composition tend tofurther coact with the wax remaining on the floor to form a hard,non-slip, film which provides a very brilliant, long-lasting,non-yellowing gloss to the flooring so treated. The portion of the soilladen wax removed may then be collected in a suitable manner such as bysweeping, vacuuming, etc. From the foregoing it will be appreciated thatthe cleaning and polishing composition of the present inventionfacilitates the maintenance of flooring surfaces without the necessityof utilizing large quantities of water or relatively strong detergentswhich tend to strip off all the wax present on a flooring surface.

The following examples are illustrative of waxless' cleaner and polishcompositions produced in accordance with the present invention utilizingthe components set forth hereinbefore:

Example I Lactic acid (aqueous solution -85%), about 12 oz. liquid;

Methanol (aqueous solution 40-70%), about 6 oz. liquid;

Hydrogen peroxide (aqueous solution 30-50% about 6 oz. liquid; and

Aqua ammonia (aqueous solution 26%), about 3 oz. liquid.

The intimately admixed composition as set forth above is preferablypackaged in a pressurized aerosol-type dispenser container with asuitable pressurizing gas such as Freon for example. To utilize thecomposition for the treatment of flooring surfaces such as of asphalt,tile, wood, etc., having a coating of wax thereon which is soiled, it ismerely necessary to spray a light mist of the composition onto theflooring surface. Due to the relatively volatile nature of thecomposition it readily evaporates, but before doing so acts to loosenthe decayed upper portion of the Wax, which generally has incorporatedtherein the majority of the soil adhering to the floor. It is thenmerely necessary to lightly buff the treated area such as by hand orwith a mechanical bufiing device followed by collection of the loosenedsoiled wax by means of sweeping, vacuuming or the like.

The flooring treated in this manner is characterized by a hard shinyglaze which greatly enhances the appearance of the floor as well asprotecting the floor. Furthermore, it will be noted that the compositiondoes not contain any components which tend to yellow, such as ischaracteristic of floor cleaning and polishing compositions whichcontain synthetic or natural waxes. While it is not intended to berestricted by this analysis, it is believed that the coaction of thecomponents comprising the composition is such that in addition to thecontrolled removal of a portion of the wax the composition also providesa lactic acid-ammonium complex which provides extremely thin hardtransparent coating on the remaining wax.

Example II Lactic acid (aqueous solution 80-85%), about 12 oz. liquid;

Methanol (aqueous solution 40-70%), about 6 oz. liquid;

Hydrogen peroxide (aqueous solution 30-50% about 6 oz. liquid; and

Aqua ammonia (aqueous solution 26%), about 4 oz. liquid.

The floor cleaning and polishing composition as set forth above isintended to be utilized by sponging a small amount of the composition ona floor surface to be treated. After the floor being treated has beenthoroughly sponged with the composition it is permitted to evaporate andas discussed with regard to the utilization of the composition as setforth in Example I the composition loosens the decayed" wax and theaccumulated soil incorporated J therein which may then be collected bysuitable means such as sweeping, vacuuming or the like. The compositionof Example II is intended to be utilized where a bufiing machine is notavailable and it will be understood that the sponging of the floorsurface tends to assist the composition in dislodging the loosened soiland decayed wax in a manner somewhat analogous to the mechanical actionof a buifing machine.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that the composition set forthherein satisfies the several objects of this invention whereby themaintenance of previously waxed flooring is greatly facilitated Withoutthe effecting of complete removal of the Wax present on the floor.

The foregoing is considered illustrative only of the principles of theinvention and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents maybe resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A floor cleaning and polishing composition which on the basis ofvolume consists essentially of about 6-12 oz. of an aqueous solution of80-85% lactic acid, about 6 oz. of an aqueous solution of 40-70%methanol, about 6 oz. of an aqueous solution of 30-50% hydrogen peroxideand about 3-4 oz. of an aqueous solution of about 26% ammonia. I

2. A floor cleaning and polishing composition which on the basis ofvolume consists essentially of about 6 oz. of an aqueous solution of80-85% lactic acid, about 6 oz. of an aqueous solution of 40-70%methanol, about 6 oz. of an aqueous solution of -50% hydrogen peroxideand about 3 oz. of an aqueous solution of about 26% ammonia.

3. A floor cleaning and polishing composition which on the basis ofvolume consists essentially of about 12 oz. of an aqueous solution of80-85% lactic acid, about 6 oz. of an aqueous solution of -70% methanol,about 6 oz. of an aqueous solution of 30-50% hydrogen peroxide and about4 oz. of an aqueous solution of about 26% ammonia.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 8/1919 Wallace106-3 XR 8/1931 Costigan 10611 XR

1. A FLOOR CLEANING AND POLISHING COMPOSITION WHICH ON THE BASIS OFVOLUME CONSISTS ESSENTIALLY OF ABOUT 6-12 OZ. OF AN AQUEOUS SOLUTION OF80-85% LACTIC ACID, ABOUT 6 OZ. OF AN AQUEOUS SOLUTION OF 40-70%METHANOL, ABOUT 6 OZ. OF AN AQUEOUS SOLUTION OF 30-50% HYDROGEN PEROXIDEAND ABOUT 6-4 OZ. OF AN AQUEOUS SOLUTION OF ABOUT 25% AMMONIA.